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Letters to the Editor: June 26, 2014

Posted on Jun 26, 2014 at 9:51 a.m.

Thank you, Somerset first responders

To the Editor:

I have had Type 1 Diabetes for nearly 25 years now, and on Sunday morning I had my first-ever diabetic seizure.

I want to thank the Somerset first responders — fire and police — as well as Lakeview Health EMS for being there when I needed them most. It’s nice to know when things go bad, this group of professionals has my back.

I was camping at the Apple River Family Campground Saturday night, and went into a diabetic seizure sometime Sunday morning due to low blood sugars. When my wife couldn’t wake me up, she called 911, and within minutes first responders were on scene taking care of me.

I want to thank the 911 dispatcher who not only directed first responders to our campsite, but talked my wife through the ways she could care for me until crews arrived.

And thank you to the absolutely professional crew that responded for explaining to my wife what to expect as I regained consciousness, taking care of me — and laughing when the first words out of my mouth after regaining consciousness were a few select words that are not suitable for publication.

Once I was able to gather myself, look into my wife’s eyes and hear that I was here to spend another day with my children — I was overwhelmed, and grateful for the opportunity to slap the medic hovering over me a high five.

That’s when my wife, without skipping a beat said, “Look over his shoulder; you have a camper full of people to thank.”

So, thank you.

Shawn Hogendorf, Stillwater, Minn.

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Meals for many

To the Editor:

One in six people in the U.S. do not have enough access to food. Hunger could be impacting someone you know – your friend, neighbor or co-worker. At Bremer Bank, we’re dedicated to helping end hunger in our communities. Over the past eight years, we have been collecting and matching donations for a grand total of more than $1 million. We want to keep that momentum going.

Join us in the fight to end hunger with our annual Meals for Many Campaign. During June 16-28, we are matching your donations $2-for-$1, up to $35,000. You can donate online at Bremer.com/MealsForMany, at any Bremer Bank location or by sending a check to Second Harvest Heartland at 1140 Gervais Ave., St. Paul, MN 55109. One hundred percent of donations collected are distributed to Second Harvest Heartland and other Feeding America food banks and local food shelves in Bremer communities.

Another easy way to make a donation is to participate in our interactive hunger quiz found at Facebook.com/bremerbank or 2harvest.org/mealsformany. Bremer is donating a $1 for every completion of this quiz, up to $5,000!

Thanks in advance for your consideration and partnership. We look forward to matching your donation and appreciate your support!

Heather McAbee, Market Manager, Bremer Bank New Richmond

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Open carry rally planned

To the Editor:

On June 29, we will be holding an open carry walk in protest of the charges filed against Mark Hoffman of Somerset, and the deprivation of his civil rights by Somerset Police Chief Doug Briggs. The walk will begin at noon and is meant to remind the Village of Somerset that we the people hold them on our shoulders, and if they use that as a vantage point to choke off our freedoms we will drop them.

This is a family-friendly event, and one does not need to carry a firearm or possess a carry permit to attend. Open carry is legal, and no permit is required to practice that right.

Nathan Pieters, Town of Richmond

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Obamacare costing us more

To the Editor:

More good news concerning Obamacare. According to a study by the University of Minnesota “the estimated average insurance rates on national health exchanges will increase by more than $4,000 per year per family in the next five years.” Which brings us to the reason Mr. Historic initiated Obamacare in the first place: healthcare costs had soared beyond the ability of the individual to pay for it. Checking my records over the last decade the cost of the healthcare I paid for, which by the way, was, according to Mr. Historic, gold-plated for the rich, never came even close to what Mr. Historic’s “free” socialized healthcare will cost. Lots more families will be without healthcare in the future. Add that to the whopping increase in energy costs as Mr. Historic shuts down our power plants and the middle class family will probably cease to exist as a self-supporting entity.

Now that the Veterans Administration has shown its inability and incompetence in providing healthcare to a small percentage of our population, America’s veterans, we certainly have to wonder what will happen when the government is responsible for the other 93 percent of the people in this country.

Like his success in Iraq, reversing years and billions and lives spent freeing and stabilizing that country only to allow it to collapse in a matter of months, Mr. Historic is going to leave this country sadly worse off than it was when he took it over. And while we are Americans and we will rebuild, as we always have, did we really need to destroy ourselves just to show we can?

Jim Schroeder, Town of Somerset

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Liberal national security

To the Editor:

Remember Robert Garwood the poster boy for Vietnam traitors? In 1973 nearly all the American POWs who were left came home. Garwood didn’t get home until 1979, 14 years after he was captured or deserted, whichever you want to believe. Then there was 444 days in Tehran, and more recently Captain Phillips of the Alabama Maersk. What has this in common, the U.S. government doesn’t negotiate with terrorists for traitors until now.

What has happened in this administration is that the National Security Agency has been purposely filled with liberal sympathizers from John Kerry, Susan Rice and Phil Gordon. All were appointed by Obama for the purpose of replacing the old guard. That old guard was made up of conservatives that were appointed by George Bush and even Ronald Reagan.

For years the Democrats were labeled the weaker party on national security. They couldn’t care less about national defense; all they wanted was their social programs funded. But someone decided that a strong defense brings in more money, so they drafted a plan that was more moderate. Now, after years of selective hiring practices there are more than 1,000 young progressives embedded in the National Security Service and as a result, they see it’s better to release five of the worst for one of the least. Here’s the problem, we’re going to have to get rid of 100 Taliban fighters for every one real soldier. That’s a more fair exchange.

As far as hiring practices are concerned, when the vets came back from Vietnam and went to apply for a job, they quickly found out that the personnel manager was once a conscientious objector. When I was in college I worked part time for the employment office for the State of Michigan. My job was to make cold calls to employers and try to place a vet in a vacancy if the company had one. When they asked who I was they suddenly became too busy to talk to me. On another occasion I was applying for a computer job and when the hiring manager asked what I did in the Army, he said, “I guess we ought to be afraid of you.” Are you getting a feel for how this works?

What’s happening with the liberals is they are bringing in members of other liberal groups such as the Truman National Security Project, Center for American Progress, the National Security Network and the Third Way. These new hires are given key leadership posts at the Pentagon, the State Department, and Capitol Hill. The new recruits get help from notables like former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Defense Secretary William Perry.

So when you hear that a traitor has been exchanged for several terrorists, you can thank the liberals for making America a bag to be punched by whoever has a big stick. Worse yet, the money to get back a kidnapped American is really going to go through the roof.